Key Facts

• A major fault in Ghana’s national power grid caused widespread electricity outages.
• Power plants across the country shut down in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
• The capital city Accra, commercial city Kumasi, and parts of northern Ghana lost power.
• The state power company, GRIDCo, is working to restore power safely but has not said when it will return to normal.
• The outage affected homes, small businesses, and services relying on electricity, though hospitals usually have backup generators.
• Ghana has struggled with power shortages for years, known locally as “dumsor,” but the situation had been improving recently.
• Most electricity in Ghana comes from older hydropower plants that have had poor maintenance.
• Recently, Ghana began using gas to produce more electricity as the population grows, but the power system still faces risks like transmission failures.